Backroom administration key to healthy business

BACK office administration is often seen as the boring job of operating a small business and many overlook it, to their peril.

But not Nathan Box, of Healthy Habits at Lismore Square.

Last week, the franchise owner won a national award in operations excellence at Healthy Habits’ annual conference on the Gold Coast.

“I was thrilled,” Mr Box said. “We have been here for about four years now and it’s our second award – last year we picked up the marketing award”.

The national operations award is presented to the franchise partner who achieves excellence in retail operations, particularly in the areas of customer service, product quality, store presentation and operating optimum compliance procedures.

Healthy Habits isn’t the only franchise Mr Box owns. He is also the owner of Boost Juice, also in the Square.

“I’m attracted to healthy foods because I think there is a hole in the market with people becoming more aware of what they are eating,” he said.

Mr Box said he purchased the franchises rather than setting up his own business from scratch, not only because it was easier, but because it allowed him to leverage nationally-recognised brands, providing a better chance of success.

“People who come to Lismore from Cairns or Melbourne already know the brand, so it makes it a lot easier for us,” he said.

The profile of Healthy Habits is about to get a lot bigger with the group planning a major franchise expansion over the next five years.

An obese nation

60 per cent of Australians aged 25 years and over are overweight or obese. • 39pc are overweight. • 21pc are obese. • The proportion of men aged 25-64 years classified as obese doubled from 9pc to 17pc between 1980 and 1999-2000. • In the same period, the obesity rate among women of that age range more than doubled, from 8pc to 20pc.